El Mundo Sports

Although being a founding member of CONMEBOL, along with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, Chile hasn’t had the success of the other three, who have won at least two World Cups each. When Chile hosted the tournament in 1962, La Roja had possibly their best team to date. Entering the tournament with home field advantage helped, but Chile took the game to teams that were supposedly superior. Along the way, they defeated world powers Italy and the USSR before running into a high-powered Brazilian squad. Eventually, Chile would take 3^rd place, which is still their best performance in a World Cup.

The qualification for the 2010 World Cup was a big surprise for Chile. Initially, La Roja looked on the verge of not qualifying after a string of losses to Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. That all changed in October of 2008, when Chile went on to shock Argentina. Not only that, but they went on a tear and beat Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, Columbia, and Ecuador to take 2^nd place in CONMEBOL behind Brazil.

A few players made a name for themselves during the qualification process including youngster Alexis Sanchez of Italy’s Udinese. He scored 3 goals to help La Roja qualify, and he has scored an incredible 11 goals in his 28 international matches. Although very young, Sanchez may be counted on heavily after his quick start to his international career. Another youngster, Arturo Vidal, could be a key contributor to Chile’s World Cup hopes as he has been a staple in the line-up under coach Marcelo Bielsa.

None of these players are as important to the South Americans as Humberto Suazo. With the self-given nickname of “The Goalscorer,” Suazo has backed up his sentiment as a true talent on many occasions. If you’re a believer that stats don’t lie, you’ll be a believer after readying his:

2003: 40 goals, 40 games

2004: 40 goals, 62 games

2006: 52 goals, 54 games

2007: 44 goals, 85 games

Suazo simply gets the job done wherever he plays his soccer, and he recently made his first splash on European soil with a loan deal to Real Zaragoza in Spain. Although he excels at club level, Suazo is one of those rare strikers that plays just as well for his country. He scored no less than 10 goals during World Cup qualification, leading La Roja to South Africa.

If he continues his great run of form, he and his teammates may stay a while.

Player to Watch: Humberto Suazo

Game to Watch: 3^rd game against Spain

Predicted World Cup result: 2^nd round exit (to Brazil)

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